1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a home network, and more particularly, to utilizing Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) content through a home network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A DVD player is a multimedia player widely used in modern homes. It is widely used because the DVD player provides high quality content and a variety of additional functions, which are not available in theaters, such as a user interaction function, a number of storyline functions, and a parental control function, achieved by utilizing the large storage capacity of a DVD. Accordingly, the DVD has gradually become a substitute for compact discs (CD) and existing analog mediums including a video tape recorder (VTR).
With the generalization of networked audio/video (AV) products at home, devices having a network capability are increasingly gaining popularity. In addition, there are increasing demands from users to utilize not only local content but also internet content in any of the users' home devices using a media server connected to the Internet through a network.
The DVD content can be reproduced by remote devices as well as local devices in a streaming manner by utilizing a network. In this regard, an extensive study needs to be conducted in the standardization of the home network. At present, however, when the DVD content is reproduced by remote devices, the remote devices are only able to reproduce the content in the DVD and the additional functions provided by the DVD, such as changes in title, menus and chapters and a variety of storylines, cannot be used.
In the existing standard, for example, a method of describing a DVD video disc as a content item is not defined in the Content Directory Service (CDS) standard for a universal Plug and Play (UPnP) media server. In allowing a device to utilize DVD content of a remote server in the home network based on the existing UPnP AV architecture, a method of accessing the DVD content in units of a title and a method of accessing the DVD content in units of a file is available in the related art. Details thereof will be described below.
FIG. 1A is a flowchart showing a method of utilizing the DVD content in units of a title in a home network based on a related art UPnP AV architecture. A UPnP media server extracts title information from a video manager information file at the time of loading a DVD disc and generates content item information on a content directory service. An example of the item information is shown in FIG. 1B. A user requests a UPnP media renderer to reproduce content specified by the content item information using a UPnP control point. The URL information included in this content item information enables access to the content in units of a DVD title.
In the method shown in FIG. 1A, even when the video manager information is analyzed by the UPnP media server and DVD video content is provided in units of a title, it is not possible to utilize the real menu screen provided by the DVD disc. Accordingly, there is an inconvenience in that the user has to manually find a main title of the DVD while unnecessarily reproducing the DVD.
FIG. 2A is a flowchart showing a method of utilizing DVD content in units of a file in a related art UPnP AV architecture.
The UPnP media server can generate the content item information on the basis of files seen from a file system when items for the DVD are configured by a content directory service (CDS). FIG. 2B shows an example of the item information that can be used in the method shown in FIG. 2A. Similarly, in this case, there is an inconvenience in that the user, who wants to utilize items existing on the UPnP media server using a UPnP control point, has to manually find video object set (VOB) files constituting the desired title by requesting reproduction of all the files.
In the known methods, the user needs to manually reproduce the whole DVD in order to find the desired title. In addition, since the original menu screen unique to the DVD is not available, the user cannot utilize a graphic user interface (GUI) that is the most suitable for representing characteristics of the contents. In addition, since it is not possible to navigate between program chains (PGCs) at the time of reproducing a specific DVD title in a streaming manner, the various additional functions provided by the DVD video, such as the parental control function or a camera angle changing function, are not available.